Pierre Bayle's Dictionnaire Historique et Critique was a bestseller throughout Europe for two centuries. Sally L. Jenkinson's masterly new edition presents the reader with a coherent path through Bayle's vast work, uncovering Bayle's progressive views on toleration and elitism. This anthology is the first in English to present Bayle as a specifically political thinker. Jenkinson's authoritative translation, careful selection of texts, and lucid introduction will be welcomed by scholars and students of the history of ideas, political theory, cultural history and French studies.